Hydy's Blog

Last Thursday we went to the Batman marathon at a theater in the southwest corner of town. There were only about 20 of us in the arena-style room, and no little ones. They gave us free small popcorn vouchers, too. I stayed awake for the first two movies, and only slept during Bane’s takeover of Gotham in the third. I like Batman, so I enjoyed my evening very much. Though, I think Vinnie is right, a bit too much Bruce Wayne and not enough Batman. But we had junk food and a fun night out.

Had a quiet couple of days and then went to see my brother’s family and new house. They found a really nice place. Kids all get their own rooms, and a basement to play in. The got me a cake, with candles and singing and everything. It was very sweet. We played an Angry Birds card and dice game and a round of Uno with plastic cards. A nice afternoon with family.

Spent time with friends the last couple days, hanging out, having fun. Gaming on my birthday was a lot of fun, cured the Roman Empire and then took power away from the senate. This coming weekend is now the Cedar Point trip, that will be a blast. Still trying to figure out when King’s Island can happen.

Since we got back from Boise, it feels like I haven’t done much but work, eat and sleep. Thirty hour weeks take some getting used to after months of twelve-fifteen hour weeks. I have done other things, hung out with friends, but the big events are yet to come.

Three birthdays over the next six days. Happy Birthday! The Ohio State Fair next weekend. Cedar Point the weekend after. Then three more birthdays, which involve two family trips. Possibly a King’s Island trip in there somewhere, too. And rounding out the summer at WorldCon, come ChiCon as it’s in Chicago this year.

Tonight, Rich is taking me to a Batman marathon to watch the Dark Knight trilogy all in a row. His birthday gift to me. The difficulty – me staying awake for all nine hours, in a dark room, and vaguely comfortable seat. There will be Icees and probably chocolate.

Sunday is a trip to see my brother’s new house, and play some Munchkin. He’s a bit further away now and trying to get the hang of being a house-husband. I imagine he’s looking forward to the oldest heading to school in a few weeks.

Trying to eat better, as always. Sticks & Twigs pretzels, however, are nothing like pretzels and not even as substantial as the name would suggest. Shelled pumpkin seeds, on the other hand, are far more pleasant to eat. Spring mix and spinach are tasting a bit bitter, need to get more alkalized, but wheatgrass is just not convenient in my schedule these days.

By Friday, the temps started to go up, and stayed there for the rest of our visit. It was very nice, but A/C everywhere we went meant I still didn’t wear my shorts. Over the course of the weekend, we completed our food tour with Westside Drive-in, Jack In The Box, Flying Pie Pizza, two visits to Sockeye, a nice brunch on Sunday at a brand new cafe, and lunch at Hugo’s Deli on Monday. Gale made us a nice big Italian dinner Monday night for our last meal in Boise.

So, what else did we do besides eat?

Friday we joined our old group for some D&D Edition 3.5. And helped them work their way through Gluttony(necromancy) and Lust (enchantment) in their dungeon. We had a good time catching up with them, seeing the little one turned into a real person now, and sharing old stories. And no one died.

Saturday we spent hanging out, and chatting and seeing lots of people we hadn’t seen in a while. The waitress we had wasn’t anywhere near as good as the one we had Thursday night. But then Thursday we were inside with only five of us, Saturday, there was an ever fluctuating group out on the patio. Still, we had fun, and stayed both nights til they kicked us out, and then a bit longer in the parking lot. There was Kevin Smith afterward on Saturday.

Sunday we went out to Star, and pretty much played Munchkin for hours and hours and hours. It was good fun. We started out with Zombies and then switched over to regular with lots and lots of expansions. The kid played for a while, too. Did a good job for his first time. I didn’t meet a lot of our friends’ families when we lived out there, so it was interesting meeting David’s folks, sister and nephew. Many positive thoughts for her speedy recovery.

Monday we went to see The Amazing Spiderman. And I actually liked it. I haven’t really liked any of the Spiderman movies I’ve seen thus far, but they did a good job with this one. Start all over at the beginning, make the background more detailed, and for once, got the right first girlfriend. I was afraid I would fall asleep, but there was no even a lazy blink. I’m sure there were cannon problems, there always are, but I don’t read comics. It was a fun movie.

The trip home was not so much fun. Bad airport food, flight delays and no free wifi, made for a very long day. But we made it safely and in time for gaming. So, no harm done.

Arrival in Boise, to 70 degree temps, made me glad I’d brought my jacket. Our first stop with the In-Laws was Wingers, for their Original Amazing Sticky Fingers. Oh, how we’d missed that flavor. Unlimited popcorn, salad, drinks, chicken and fries later, we were happily stuffed. We headed to WinCo to buy groceries for the next few days, and then to Rich’s childhood home for an afternoon of hummingbird and squirrel watching. Busily texting, Rich invites over one of his oldest friends, his cousin et al, and another couple of friends while Gale makes dinner. After a dinner of salad, garlic toast, chicken and pasta, we head up to show them some You Tube comedy until guests arrive. A nice evening of chatting ensues until Rich starts nodding off, and people take their leave, promising to see us later in the week.

The 4th begins with a trip to a juice shop for a double shot of wheat grass juice for Rich and and orange juice smoothie for me. Some more time in the back garden, while we discuss plans for the week and movies we want to see, while Rich texts more people and invites over his best friend. We head inside to make salty carmel ice cream, a la Jeni’s cookbook and have a quick lunch. Then we head upstairs to try to hook up the tablet to the old TV, to no avail, there is no HDMI input on any of their devices, so we start watching Luther with computer speakers attached to the tablet until Chris arrives. We finish our episode and then dinner prep while we all catch up on life.

Salad, tater tots and 1lb. hamburgers take a bit longer than planned, so we don’t make it up to the mountain for fireworks. Instead, we head to a parking lot behind the house where we get a front row seat for illegal fireworks directly overhead (not cool), and have to move a few times, ending in the front lawn of a church, in order to see the last half of the Meridian Speedway (legal) fireworks show.

Today, the In-Laws are back to work, and we’re getting ready to head out in search of an internet connection, as they took the router with them. Lunch at Fuddruckerswas alright, though I would not consider my burger to have been cooked medium rare. Finally found WiFi at Moxie Java. Dinner will be pizza, and then meeting a few friends later tonight. The temperatures are still in the 60s at night, 70s morning and evening. We are getting 80s in the afternoons. I brought a jacket, but I wish I’d brought a long sleeved denim shirt. I doubt the shorts are coming out at all.

I’m happy to see the FB updates as folk get power back much earlier than expected. I hope those still without are doing alright. And that everyone had a happy Fourth of July. Coming up, some more busy days, including my Dad’s 65th Birthday on Sunday. Happy Birthday, Dad!!